How can it be only the second time I see Brock give the stiff elbow and already be bored of it?

Apr 9, 2018 4:41:01 GMT Call said:

I think I was able to enjoy Reigns/Lesnar because I didn't go in expecting a classic, I went in expecting a brawl, a big fight and a lot of spots. Blood always adds drama as well.

More power to you if you enjoyed it I guess - but I just don't see how suplex, suplex, suplex, superman punch, superman punch, suplex, botched suplex, F5, F5, spear, superman punch, F5, F5 through table, suplex, elbow, F5 classifies as any of those things you mentioned.

The finish was literally the only interesting thing just out of sheer unexpectedness, and all it really means going forward is Brock vs Bobby Lashley which who the fuck could care about?

Apr 9, 2018 4:45:13 GMT vendrell said:

Apr 9, 2018 4:41:07 GMT nazzer said:

I was just sitting here talking to the guys I watched the show with about what math he's we liked. None of us even remembered the Daniel Bryan match.

It was probably the most forgettable match on the whole card.  Hell even Jinder had a man bun we could remember.

Do you think Shane was still sick? He seemed very slow moving.

I will give WWE credit though, they made some ballsy unpredictable choices. Squashing cena, Nakamura heel turn, ending auskas streak, and burying roman in Lesnars shit. Not saying I liked it all but WWE threw us some swerves and that is something that has been lacking from their programming for quite some time.

Apr 9, 2018 4:48:57 GMT nazzer said:

Apr 9, 2018 4:45:13 GMT vendrell said:

It was probably the most forgettable match on the whole card.  Hell even Jinder had a man bun we could remember.

Do you think Shane was still sick? He seemed very slow moving.

Shane is like 50 years old. Of course he's moving kinda slow and yeah I'm sure his sickness also played apart.  Plus the style of match it was kind of made it necessary as well.  He was double teamed for the majority of the match and had to sell it.

Apr 9, 2018 4:48:28 GMT @admin said:

Apr 9, 2018 4:41:01 GMT Call said:

I think I was able to enjoy Reigns/Lesnar because I didn't go in expecting a classic, I went in expecting a brawl, a big fight and a lot of spots. Blood always adds drama as well.

More power to you if you enjoyed it I guess - but I just don't see how suplex, suplex, suplex, superman punch, superman punch, suplex, botched suplex, F5, F5, spear, superman punch, F5, F5 through table, suplex, elbow, F5 classifies as any of those things you mentioned.

The finish was literally the only interesting thing just out of sheer unexpectedness, and all it really means going forward is Brock vs Bobby Lashley which who the fuck could care about?

The thing is, you can do a finisher fest in a compelling way...they just didn't do that here. 

Apr 9, 2018 4:48:28 GMT @admin said:

Apr 9, 2018 4:41:01 GMT Call said:

I think I was able to enjoy Reigns/Lesnar because I didn't go in expecting a classic, I went in expecting a brawl, a big fight and a lot of spots. Blood always adds drama as well.

More power to you if you enjoyed it I guess - but I just don't see how suplex, suplex, suplex, superman punch, superman punch, suplex, botched suplex, F5, F5, spear, superman punch, F5, F5 through table, suplex, elbow, F5 classifies as any of those things you mentioned.

The finish was literally the only interesting thing just out of sheer unexpectedness, and all it really means going forward is Brock vs Bobby Lashley which who the fuck could care about?

I guess it's just to each their own. I was definitely a bit of an outlier in terms of things I enjoyed at this Mania compared to others here. I got what I was expecting

Is that Lashley thing really set in stone as far as rumours go, i'm seeing his name mentioned on Twitter as well. Haven't seen him compete ever since TNA stopped airing here.

I wasn’t a Lashley fan the first time around. I doubt it’ll be any different this time but maybe I’ll be surprised.

How about entrances? Whose was the fave?

I really liked the show. I thought Charlotte/Asuka, AJ/Nakamura, and unbelievably, Trips and Steph/Angle and Ronda were all great matches. The Ronda match, I was totally baffled by the booking, and I think they made Steph look a little too formidable, but when it ended, I realized that I really enjoyed it and that Ronda came out looking awesome no matter how many times Steph locked her hands on the armbar.

The Roman/Brock match might have been the worst Mania main event since the ill-fated Orton/HHH match of WM25. God, what a disaster it was, with a finish that was great for all the wrong reasons. I am fascinated to see where they go with it, and I'm happy that they didn't have Roman eat all the F5s only to win in the end, but woof, what an awful match. Regardless of whether the crowd *should* dislike Roman at this point, the bottom line is that they do, and he needs a major overhaul coming out of this. My fear is that they're going to do the old John Cena "this is the worst year of my life" storyline, but again do it without actually making it the worst year of his life.

What they do with Brock, who knows. Somebody else is going to have to be the guy to take that belt though, and at this point, I have no idea who it could possibly be. The only person that would be really interesting right now is Bryan, but I don't know how they get there.

The rest of the card, I thought was fine. It certainly wasn't the most predictable show, which I appreciate, especially since for the most part, it didn't seem like it was unpredictable just for the sake of it. Overall, a show I will look at fondly, I think, with the exception of the main, which at least rewarded me with an inexplicable Brock win.

Apr 9, 2018 5:08:17 GMT iron maiden said:

I wasn’t a Lashley fan the first time around. I doubt it’ll be any different this time but maybe I’ll be surprised.

How about entrances? Whose was the fave?

My favorite was Nakamura's, with Nita Strauss playing him out.  Followed by Charlotte's.

My other half thought Dana White was a woman until WM 😂😂

Man, I do not get the Main Event hate. I loved it. Just a brutal fucking fight. While not as good as the their last battle, it was still great.

Out of the matches we saw, the only one that arguably deserved to Main Event over it was the mixed tag (which would’ve had its own backlash with Steph injecting herself as one of the first women to Main Event Mania.

I still maintain the Roman hate is still fan bitterness to him being pushed over Bryan at WM 31 (which given Bryan’s injury was without question the right move). Yeah, his booking is questionable, but he really is fantastic in the ring.

Apr 9, 2018 10:44:10 GMT KJ said:

Man, I do not get the Main Event hate. I loved it. Just a brutal fucking fight. While not as good as the their last battle, it was still great.

Out of the matches we saw, the only one that arguably deserved to Main Event over it was the mixed tag (which would’ve had its own backlash with Steph injecting herself as one of the first women to Main Event Mania.

I still maintain the Roman hate is still fan bitterness to him being pushed over Bryan at WM 31 (which given Bryan’s injury was without question the right move). Yeah, his booking is questionable, but he really is fantastic in the ring.

It's not just Bryan , it's everyone we decide to back organically that he continuously gets chosen over - that's why the fans will never accept him. Fans support a guy 110% and in the end it's still Roman. A guy does some great work and is the staple of the show and one of the staples of the company for a year and still it's going to be Roman. It's a never ending cycle of no matter who we as an audience choose , Roman is always going to get the cherry on top in the end and that will never allow the fans to accept him in this spot. 

They've tried every trick in the book , tricks that even worked for Cena when he was "polarizing" and the fans see right through it. Roman needs a heel run , or to completely just come from the bottom. The post credits scene last night was intriguing - almost as if the WWE was giving him one last shot to get that sympathetic ovation and he didn't - so maybe they are going to change some things tonight. We'll see. 

I don’t think the fans are legitimately giving him a shot.

He loses clean a surprising amount. He’s fucking great in the ring. Yeah, his promos are “meh,” but the only reason he’s hated is because THE MACHINE backs him. As stubborn as the WWE is, so is this clinging hatred people have for him.

In the last three years, AJ is probably the only guy that’s consistently had better matches. Not Seth. Not Finn. Not Nak. Not KO. Zayn. Joe. Orton. Cena. On and on and on.

And I don't think the WWE gives the fans a legitimate shot to choose. And it's not even as much a hatred for him as opposed to where he will always end up on the card - it's never been about the matches with Roman (for me) it's been about the end game and who else could flourish in that spot. We have a right to be stubborn on who we want to , and don't want to see Main Eventing Wrestlemania - it can't always just be "go with the flow" because the WWE says so.

Romans greatest asset is the fact that people want to see him lose , and when the WWE books around that the matches can be spectacular. The problem is that they don't run with that and revert right back to making him a sympathetic underdog with a smart mouth - it's stupid. Let the fans hate him and use it to your advantage.

Again Cena even at his peak of polarization could generally turn a portion of the audience in his favor by the end of the match , it was part of his magic. Roman can't do that , Roman bleeds and the crowd wants him to bleed more - Roman takes four F5's and the crowd wants a fifth. He's the least over babyface I have ever seen , at least this side of Die Rocky Die chants. Which you'd think would be a lesson for the WWE.

Just watched through Brock & Roman again and I thought the way they put together the match was all wrong. Roman shouldn't be a sympathetic character, if he's going to get over as a face, it's because he's awesome and the only guy that can stand toe to toe with Brock. They made Reigns into Brock's bitch the entire night and having him kick out of finishes only made the crowd hate Reigns more. 6 F5s is ridiculous and isn't the type of decision that gets anyone over. Fans don't buy into Reigns for being a tough SOB because the credibility of finishers is purely down to the bookers. It also doesn't do a lot for Brock who rehabbed the F5 only for it to be thrown away so recklessly. What actually got Roman over as a tough SOB was the elbow, but that was 3/4 of the way through the finishing stretch. I feel bad Roman actually took a shot like that and got so little in return - his bonus better be good. But yeah just a weird match, they went home in the first 7 minutes and remained there for the final 10. Not only was it a bizarre match, but what a weird piece of booking all things considered. After spending so much time rehabbing Brock and getting us back to this match, they basically make it a glorified squash.

FYI, I really enjoyed the show. The final hour was a disappointment, but everything up then either lived up to or surpassed my expectations. While Cena/Taker wasn't anywhere near the match it could have been at Wrestlemania 25, I thought it was nice to see Taker go out with a win and redeem his showing at WM30. It also made Brock and Roman's achievement mean that much more.

I wonder how much Nakamura wi be fined for attacking styles after the bell?

So that Nicholas kid is the son of referee John Cone. Nicholas Cone, son of John is a tag team champ!

Apr 9, 2018 13:30:24 GMT KJ said:

I don’t think the fans are legitimately giving him a shot.

He loses clean a surprising amount. He’s fucking great in the ring. Yeah, his promos are “meh,” but the only reason he’s hated is because THE MACHINE backs him. As stubborn as the WWE is, so is this clinging hatred people have for him.

In the last three years, AJ is probably the only guy that’s consistently had better matches. Not Seth. Not Finn. Not Nak. Not KO. Zayn. Joe. Orton. Cena. On and on and on.

I agree 10000000%

The fans were the ones originally clamoring to push Roman organically before WWE got their hooks into him and decided to do things 'their way'.  That poor bastard has done everything we and they have asked of him and more.  Consistent in ring, gotten better on the mic, etc.  Even this feud started off on the right foot and had fans cheering Roman and booing Brock but even that took a hard turn. 

For some reason the WWE book him more poorly or steer him in the worst possible directions for his character that it makes the fans BOO him because they aren't technically BOOing him, they are BOOing the WWE Machine and their poor decisions.  He has become the WWE's poster child and Enemy #1 for the larger part of the fanbase because of this.  If they would have left well enough alone and let him 'evolve' the way the fans wanted the way he was starting to organically he might be on the level of DB 'over' now. 

Roman is going to be considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time in five years. It was annoying that the fans boycotted the match but they’re the ones that paid heaps of money to be there, and I absolutely enjoyed it from home for $9.99! (USD 😒)

I’ve always said Roman was and is the best Shield member. Everyone wanted Dean to be that guy and I always said he would be the least accomplished out of the 3. I love Roman and Cena and I think I love them more because people hate them. The thing is, Cena knows how to play on the hate. He just has a better personality and an infinite amount of charisma. Roman is just still awkward about it. He needs to go heel tonight on RAW.

As for my match of the night, I thought I would say AJ/Shinsuke but it wasn’t even close. The MOTN for me was BY FAR Angle/Rousey vs HHH/Stephanie. That shirt was so well done. As good as it could be.

Does anyone have a gif of the head drop Reigns took? I still haven’t seen it.

Roman's entire WWE run has been a bizarre series of backflips and second-guesses.

It started off with Roman being called into play the Kassius Ohno of The Shield. The WWE figured he had more upside and would benefit more from working alongside Ambrose and Rollins. Originally the stable was supposed to be tied with Punk, but when they killed it at TLC 2012, plans changed and they became a band of NXT graduates HHH looked after. The group was supposed to break up in the build up to Wrestlemania XXX with Ambrose in the heel role, Rollins as the babyface and Roman caught in-between. However, they killed it in a match against the Wyatt Family at the Elimination Chamber and were kept together to feud with Evolution. Right when they were at the peak of their popularity, they were finally broken up.

This was around the time where plans for the Shield became sketchy. Originally the idea was that Ambrose was the leader and would eventually go rogue. Rollins would continue to be the sympathetic babyface character of the group and Roman would be the ass-kicker. This was clear around the 2014 Royal Rumble where Reigns eliminated 12 wrestlers and Ambrose tried to eliminate Reigns. Then they changed their minds and decided to make The Shield the focus of their television. The story would centre on Seth Rollins and how he betrayed the group, making Ambrose's life a living hell and screwing Reigns of his championship dream right as he had the match won.

On paper it was a great story, but there was a catch. In May of 2014, Daniel Bryan suffered an injury and would not be fit enough to drop the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar. If that had have happened, the story would have been richer. Instead, Bryan returns at the 2015 Royal Rumble, loses to Reigns and the fans completely turn on Roman. In hindsight, the WWE should have just pushed things back, had Brock beat Bryan at Mania and then gone ahead with the 'heist' angle at Payback or Extreme Rules.

So Rollins-Reigns were set to be kept apart until Survivor Series 2015 where Reigns would go over Rollins and kick-start his run. Then Rollins tore his ACL & MCL against Kane which completely messed up the angle. The WWE panicked and put together a poor by the numbers angle where the Authority were screwing Reigns, which led to HHH vs. Reigns at Wrestlemania. It wasn't much of a match, but Reigns finally got his big championship win he should have received 4 months prior. Things would pick up quickly for Reigns as he would face off against AJ Styles and the pair tore the house down on consecutive PPVs. Then in June, Reigns was suspended for a drug violation and promptly dumped the championship to Rollins. In every other circumstance, the blame could be attributed to poor luck or bad writing, in this case Reigns screwed up.

Reigns was promptly put on the backburner, with Ambrose and Balor both receiving the ball. However, Rollins injured Balor and Ambrose's run on top was unimpressive. At this point, the WWE were scrambling for their next story, and found it when they brought back the one legend who was still worth something, Goldberg. After knocking back Shane McMahon as a potential Wrestlemania opponent, Brock was scrambling for a suitable match. Brock was able to coax Goldberg back into the WWE fraternity and sold him on a match where he would be willing to put him over and make him look like the Goldberg of '98. The match turned out better than anybody's wildest expectations and the WWE were so impressed, they were willing to make Goldberg-Lesnar their Universal Championship match, with a view to make Brock the star again.

Meanwhile Reigns was serving his penance for his drug bust. He was used to push the Kevin Owens-Chris Jericho storyline and when the WWE were satisfied with his performance, they decided to plant the seeds of Brock-Reigns II by having Reigns beat Taker at Wrestlemania. It would be billed as the biggest rematch since Rock-Cena from Wrestlemania 29, the two men who both beat Taker at Mania duking it out with no Money in the Bank briefcase hanging over anybody's head. The problem was that to get there, Brock would have to hold the championship for a year and Reigns would have to endear himself to the crowd.

The WWE tried a different tact with Reigns. Instead of making a clean-skin babyface, they were going to give him an edge. He wasn't a good guy, or the bad guy, he was THE guy and he would knock down anybody who stood in his path. Except he didn't, Roman lost...a lot. He lost to Samoa Joe twice, he lost to Strowman 4 times and lost to Lesnar at SummerSlam. Reigns clearly had fallen as a top guy and it took a special opponent to reawken the Big Dawg...and his name was John Cena.

Cena brought out the fire that had been lost in Reigns and reminded him of his roots. This was supposed to lead to a Shield revival, but then Reigns came down with the mumps which caused him to miss one of the biggest matches of the year. Once again, Reigns lost momentum at the worst time and had to start from scratch. After being the New Day in a forgettable mid-card match at Survivor Series, Reigns acquired the Intercontinental Championship and carved out a decent run for himself. Every week he won hard fought contests against Elias, Jason Jordan, Cesaro & Samoa Joe before eventually dropping the belt back to The Miz in time for the Royal Rumble.

Reigns once again fell short to the better man at the Rumble. Even though he had squandered that chance, fans were aware he'd have another shot at the Elimination Chamber. Despite being clearly out-gunned by Braun Strowman who was the clear MVP of the match, Reigns was able to win and qualify for his forth consecutive Wrestlemania run. It was a charmed existence for somebody who had failed to win the big one over and over again.

Once again, the WWE thought they could make Reigns into an edgy character and tap into the elements that made his match against Cena so successful. Reigns would accuse Brock of being Vince's boy and not caring about the fans. It was intended to be this cutting edge promo that was supposed to posit Reigns as a man of the people. Instead fans saw through it and weren't shocked. They knew Brock didn't care and given Reigns' position on the card, it was hypocritical of calling Brock Vince's boy. The promos did little to hype the match and in a shocking turn of events, Reigns was massacred at Wrestlemania.

I see Roman's run as a cautionary tale of long term booking. While these storylines involved talented people and would lead to interesting matches, one injury, signing or return could throw things out of whack. When it comes to a show like Wrestlemania, it's better to book it three months in advance, not 12 months or potentially 36 months.

My biggest issue is it seems like just another Mania main event wasted because the WWE and their obsession with proving they can make people like Roman (they can't). At the end of the day that Main Event benefitted no one - Brock got no heat because people don't care about Roman and Roman didn't get any shine because people enjoyed seeing him bleeding profusely and didn't feel the least bit empathetic for him. Neither guy comes out of last night any better off than going into the show.

You replace Roman with any number of people and that Main Event is far better off , even with Brock going over.

You put Braun in that spot and the crowd is invested , the match might not be as crisp but I promise you if he eats that many finishers from Brock and gets that color that the crowd is going to be losing their mind for him to keep kicking out. And that post credits scene he is getting a standing ovation and the crowd is just as hungry for him moving forward as they were going into the match. Also it keeps Brocks position as a monster and part time "heeeeel" in much better standing.

Daniel Bryan is an obvious one , but not very logical. Though that would have been insane. Finn or Seth could have easily flourished in that very same spot and the crowd would have loved it and it would of again: set everyone up moving forward. Instead here we are , Monday after Mania and Braun is tag champion with a 10 year old , Seth is the IC champion and Roman's probably going to Roman some more while the fans reject him and the WWE keeps selling him as this hard working man of the people who needs to slay the big bad part timer.

See! I KNEW that they should've just tossed all their plans out the window and bumrushed a Brock/Bryan title match. Can you imagine the reaction!? Shit would've been legendary epic.

If I was going to rank the matches last night:

1. Angle/Rousey vs HHH/Steph
2. IC Title Triple Threat
3. Charlotte vs Asuka
4. Nia vs Alexa Bliss
5. Bryan/Shane vs KO/Sami
6. Taker vs Cena
7. Brock vs Reigns
8. Braun vs The Bar
9. Bludgeon Brother vs New Day vs Usos
10. Shinsuke vs AJ
11. Fatal Four Way US Title

Seems about right for me.

Hi boy ...

www.prowrestlingsheet.com/lesnar-vince-mcmahon-altercation/#.WsubEdPwZE4

Apr 9, 2018 17:29:18 GMT KJ said:

Hi boy ...

www.prowrestlingsheet.com/lesnar-vince-mcmahon-altercation/#.WsubEdPwZE4

I see nothing apart from a bad gateway. 

Vince would whoop his ass anyways. 

Found the story , seems almost planted. Especially the off script part.

Here comes the Roman Invitational tournament for the Vacant Universal Title.

Nakamura/Styles held up better on replay.

Certainly it deserves it's reputation as a disappointment. If you sell a match as a dream match, it has to be a ***** classic. It certainly didn't live up to that and I'd consider **** generous, but it was still a good match.

They started off working a NJPW style match. Slow in the early going with a big rest-hold before building the match up piece by piece. I'd argue the match didn't get going until Styles kicked Nakamura hard in the side of the knee, causing Shinsuke to sell for the rest of the match. Considering the build-up, it was actually smart to see Styles eliminate the knee and for it to play a role in the rest of the bout. Styles kept picking away at Nakamura. Phenomenal Forearms, Calve Crusher, an attempted springboard 450 which still did damage to Nakamura's knees but Nak wasn't going to stay down on the biggest show. One thing I like about both guys is that their strike sequences are usually you'll see and here it was no exception. Typically the Pele kick is the winner in these altercations but Nak was able to stay on his feet and connect with a momentum shifting knee to the head. This led into the finish which saw Nak hit the Exploder, set up for the Kinshasha only to be picked up in a phenomenal Styles Clash for the win.

If they wanted more stars, they would have had Nak kick out and continued the match. Instead this was intended to be part one of their rivalry and it appears the rematch will be even better now that Nakamura has turned heel.

I would go *** which was around the same rating I gave Okada v. Naito from this year's WrestleKingdom.